by Mz. Lady P
The next morning I woke up; Thug wasn't next to me. I looked over at the clock, and it was after noon. I couldn't believe I had slept that long. I searched the entire house and found a note on the fridge saying that Thug had taken the kids out for ice cream.
I decided to fix myself up and put on some clothes. I had been moping around since I got here. Not combing my hair or putting on clothes. I was walking around looking like a hot ass mess. Here it was I had a closet full of shit, and I was walking around looking like the Bride of Frankenstein.
I flat ironed my hair bone straight. I threw on a pair of True Religion jeans and matching shirt. I put on a pair of all white Air Max. I made sure to put on the M.A.C Lip gloss that Thug loved so much. I went down to the kitchen and made me a salad. For some reason, I felt so refreshed and brand new. I guess it was because I was looking at this situation in a different light.
As I finished up, the doorbell rang. I opened the door, and an exotic looking woman was on the other side of the door. She looked like she was of Dominican descent with long beautiful jet-black hair. She was so tall that she could pass for a model.
"Can I help you?" She looked as if she was surprised that I answered the door.
"Hi. I'm Dominique, Mr. Kenneth's Physical Therapist. We had an appointment today." She extended her hand, and I shook it.
"Hello, I'm Mrs. Kenneth. He's actually out right now. Oh, wait a minute. Here he is now." Thug was pulling up in front of the house. He got out and helped the kids out of his truck. He walked towards the house carrying the baby in the car seat. I watched this chick as she looked from me to Thug and turned her nose up as she looked at my children. I looked over it. Women always wanted what they couldn't have.
"Hey Dominique. I'm sorry about being late for our session. You know where the fitness room is. I'll be there in a minute.” She walked past me with an extra switch in her walk.
"Hey Beautiful. You were sleeping so good I didn't want to wake you. Let me get ready for this therapy session." He kissed me on the lips and handed me the car seat with Ka'Jaiyah in it.
"Come on Mommy's babies, y'all look tired. It's time to take a nap." I took all the kids and put them in their rooms. Something was eating at me about Thug being alone with this chick. I went and grabbed some bottles of water for them. I gave less than a fuck if they were thirsty or not; I was trying to be nosey. I grabbed the water from the fridge and headed towards the fitness room.
I heard them talking, so I stood outside the door and listened. Their conversation made me sick to my stomach. The woman sounded like she was crying and sniffling.
"How come you didn't tell me you were a married fucking man with children?"
"Because it was none of your fucking business. That's my family and no one comes before them. We fucked from time to time, but that's all it was--a fuck. Now if you want to get paid, I suggest you do your job. If you can't perform your job duties because of my wife and kids then, there's the door."
"I need this job, but I know I won't be able to perform my duties. I have developed feelings for you, and it's obvious you don't feel the same. It's best that I walk away."
I hurried up and ran away from the door, and I went to my bedroom. I placed my hand over my mouth to hold in the horrendous scream that threatened to leave my body. My chest heaved up and down. I slid down the wall and just sat on the floor. My chest was hurting so bad. I guess that was what a broken heart felt like.
After awhile, I got the courage to gather myself and get up off the floor. I couldn't believe the shit that I heard. While I was suffering, this nigga was fucking his physical therapist. The way that bitch was crying, I knew she was going to be a problem. That bitch didn't even know who she was fucking with, though. I had every intention on bodying her ass if she got stupid.
I was glad I had a rolled up a Kush blunt. It was a must I smoked that shit to calm my nerves. I had murder on my mind, and Thug was number one on my hit list. I laid my head back on the headboard and faced the entire blunt. A bitch was higher than a giraffe’s pussy. The sound of someone knocking on the door brought me out of my daze.
"You didn't hear her crying, Ta-baby?" Thug said as he soothed Ka'Jaiyah to stop her from crying. If looks could kill, this nigga would be dead for real.
"No, I didn't hear her." I got up from the bed and walked towards him and rubbed her back.
"Have you been smoking, Ta?" He had his face turned up like he didn't smoke like a fucking chimney.
"Yeah. Is that a problem?"
"It is when it's interfering with your parenting."
"You're not in a position to question my parenting. Aren't you a ghost or something? For the last year, I was a single parent to these kids. While you were out faking your death and fucking your physical therapist, I was at home suffering from depression. I have got to be the stupidest bitch on Earth. I had a nigga who was in love with me and was willing to help me raise my kids, but I was too scared to fuck him, though. I felt like I would be cheating on you. All along you were laid up with a bitch while me and my kids suffered. Damn, I should have fucked Quaadir!"
Thug stood there for a minute, and I knew he was mad. The veins in his neck and head were pulsating. He walked out of the room, and I slammed the door behind him. Not even a second later, the door swung open, and Thug rushed me and tackled me on the bed like a damn football player. He was choking the shit out of me. I really struck a nerve when I brought up Quaadir. That was my aim, though.
Thug had to know that he couldn't keep being selfish to my heart when he held the key to it. I'm not no ugly bitch. There was someone else in this big ass world that would love me. The only problem was I loved Thug and all I wanted was him.
"Let me go motherfucker!" I was trying my best to get his hands from around my neck.
"You had that bitch ass nigga around my seeds, huh? In my crib acting like a family! Don't cry now, talk all that hot shit you were just talking! Stop playing with me, Tahari!" Our kids standing in the doorway crying made him stop choking me. When he got up off of me, I ran towards the front door. I was taking my ass back to Chicago. I couldn't take being in this house with his selfish ass a moment longer.
As soon as I flung the front door open, the entire family was standing there. I guess Thug was standing behind me because everyone rushed past me screaming and hollering. I just turned around and closed the door behind us. It was obvious they had no clue he was alive either. I also noticed Khia and Dro were with them. I was so sick and tired of this bitch's presence I didn't know what to do. Everyone was cool with her, and that pissed me off. Did these motherfuckers forget this bitch tried to kill me on my wedding day?
Chapter 4-Malik
My Brother's Keeper
A year without my brother and best friend had been hard as hell on me. I had managed to work through the pain and keep our organization together. The money was still pouring in, and we still owned the streets of the Chi. Despite our continued success, I needed my big brother here. I would give all this shit up in a minute if I could have one more day with him.
I kept thinking about how I failed him the night he was gunned down. We were all so fucked up that we snoozed, and a nigga left my bro leaking. Life had been hard on everybody; especially Tahari. I tried my hardest to help out with the kids, but I couldn't look at them without tearing up.
Peaches just masked her hurt through drinking and smoking. Ta'Jay was just numb to it all. She had us all worried about her because she had been so depressed since the incident. Sarge and I our tried our best to hold this shit down, but I was ready to sit back and let Dro put in work. Besides Sarge, he was the only one I trusted with my money and my product.
Things had been hectic between Barbie and I. Mainly because I was never home to help out with our daughter. I had been out all day checking on the traps and collecting money. I decided to head home and at least try to bathe my daughter and read a book to her before she went to sleep. As soon as I walked in the door, Barbie was staring at me with the
screw face on. I was not in the mood for her shit tonight.
"Well, look what the fuck the cat drug in. I forgot your ass stayed here." She was sitting on the couch feeding our daughter.
"What I tell you about cursing like that in front of her?"
"Whatever you say Daddy Dearest." This the shit I was talking about; Barbie and her smart ass mouth. I no longer cheated on her, but her constant nagging made me want to go straight out and get me a real obedient bitch. Barbie made me want to choke the shit out of her.
Instead of arguing with her, I walked away and took a shower. I was beat. The last thing I wanted to do was argue or fight with Barbie. I left her ass sitting right there. Her dumb ass could argue with herself. I laid in bed staring at the ceiling oblivious to the fact that my cell phone was ringing.
"Are you going to answer that?" Barbie said as she stood over me handing it to me.
"What does it say?"
"It's an unknown number." Whoever it was must have hung up and called right back because the phone started to ring again.
"Hello!" I yelled into the phone. The life drained from me as I heard the voice on the other end, telling me to gather up the family and come to Miami. I just sat there holding the phone. I was in such shock that I never responded.
"Oh, my God! What's wrong baby? Please, Malik, say something! Who the fuck was that on the phone?" Barbie was on her knees in front of me shaking the shit out of me.
"That was Thug." She looked at me like I was crazy.
"Your ass better stop smoking all that damn weed. That shit is seriously fucking up your brain cells." She was now standing in front me with her hands on her hips.
"I'm serious, Bae. That was him. Get our clothes ready, we're going to Miami. Just do as I say and don't ask no questions. I'm about to call everybody right now." I was glad she started to pack, but I could tell she thought I was crazy.
So many emotions were going on inside of me. I was angry, mad, and hurt. How could he put us through that shit? I was glad his ass was alive, but I had the right mind to shoot the shit out of him for pulling this stunt.
I let some of my young niggas run the spots. Thug specifically said he wanted Dro and Khia to come. I made sure not tell anyone over the phone and that I just wanted them all to meet me at the airport. We would use our private jet so that we could head straight to Miami and be there by morning.
I knew it would be a long ass flight with my Momma and Ta'Jay in my ear the entire time. They would just have to suck it the fuck up. Thug told me not to say anything. I just prayed my wife didn't say shit. I loved her to death, but Barbie couldn't hold hot water. Once we made it to the address that Thug had given me, we were all in awe of the massive ass estate in front of us.
"Malik, I'm about sick of this game with your black ass. What the fuck is going on? Why are we here in Miami?" I ignored Peaches just like I had been doing since we left Chicago. I was about to ring the doorbell, but the door opened, and Tahari was standing there looking like a mad woman. I looked past her, and there stood my big brother in the flesh. I dropped everything I had in my hands, and I rushed to him.
"Oh, my God, Ka'Jaire!" Ta'Jay said as she rushed him knocking him down on the floor. We all just hugged. Hell we even shed some tears.
"I'm about to fuck somebody up if I don't get some answers!" Peaches yelled as tears streamed down her face. She had all of our undivided attention.
"Let's get the kids situated and I will tell y'all everything. I'm so sorry Ma’." Thug walked up to her and hugged her tight and kissed her on the forehead.
"Yeah, you sorry alright. A sorry motherfucker," Tahari said as she grabbed all her kids and took them to the back of the house. Khia tried to follow behind Tahari, but Dro stopped her. He knew that would only add to Tahari's frustration. She might knock the shit out of Khia right about now. The tension was thick in the room. Thug needed to come clean about all this shit. This family had damn near fallen apart in his absence. He owed all of us an explanation.
Chapter 5- Thug
Revelations
The day had come for me to tell my family about what happened after I was shot. As I stared at all of my family sitting around the room, I felt all of the love. I also knew that I hurt them. It was now or never.
"The only thing that I remember from the night I got shot was them shocking me several times because I had flat-lined. It was like I could see everything going on. From my understanding, I died, but miraculously my heart just started back beating. I guess Vinny got the news that I was shot and came to the hospital. The surgeon that worked on me just happened to be a doctor for the Mob. I slipped into a coma, and Vinny had me moved to a private location."
"Wait a minute. Something’s not adding up. You had a funeral. We were all there," Malik said as he threw back a shot of Remy.
"That was all Vinny. Like I said, I was in a coma. I had no idea what was going on."
"I'm fucking Vinny up as soon as I see his punk ass! I'm your fucking mother. I raised you when he wasn't man enough to stand up to his fat ass Father. I don't even want to know the rest. I feel so damn disrespected by you and him. The moment your ass woke up from that coma you should have called your family. I prayed every day that you were with God. All the damn time you were in Miami with the devil we know as Vinny!" Peaches got up and left the dining room crying. I felt like shit because my mother never cried. She was the strongest of us all. We all sat there quiet for a minute. I needed to get all of this shit out so that we could move forward with our lives.
"I was in a coma for about six months with around the clock care at Vinny's estate. When I woke up, I couldn't walk or talk. I had been hit two times in the chest, and they exited out of my back. The bullets did minor damage to my spine. I was also shot in the stomach and had to wear a shit bag. It was removed about a month ago. When I woke up, Vinny was there, and that's when he told me about everything that had transpired in my absence."
"This nigga did all that, but did he at least find out which one them Italian motherfuckers it was who hit you up? We had our ears to the street, and we came up with nothing, and that was a first for us," Sarge said as he exhaled the blunt smoke from his mouth.
"I'm glad you said that Bro. The hit didn't come from the Santerelli's. He was able to get that shit cleared away with the Commission. See when we hit their asses up we basically knocked down high ranking members of his family. His brother Marco had taken his father's place as Don. Since Marco was dead, Vinny became Don of the family. He had assembled a whole new crew. See what we did helped not only him, but us out in the end."
"I'm just glad that you're alive and well. I missed you so much." Ta'Jay got up from the couch and wrapped her arms around me.
"I love you, too, Lil Sis."
"This is a celebration of all of us being back together. Let's cook a dinner and get fucked up for old time sake," Barbie said as she jumped up from the couch and headed towards the kitchen. Khia, Tahari, and Ta'Jay followed her. That left Sarge, Malik, Dro and myself to talk about getting more money than ever.
"Yo’ grab that Remy and follow me downstairs."
Once we were all in the basement of the house, it was safe for me to talk about the business at hand.
"Let me just say I'm real proud of y'all for holding shit down in my absence." I walked around the table and poured each one of them a shot and placed a duffle bag in front of each of them.
"I know y'all wondering why I been down here in Miami. I am now running Vinny's drug cartel that is located here. I have been making more money than I know what to do with. We're a family, and it's only right that when I'm eating good, y’all eating good, too. In each one of those duffle bags is a total of one million dollars. It's more where that came from. I have a proposition for y'all. I need y'all here on my team. Laying motherfuckers down and holding court in the streets. Next week I have a meeting with Vinny and some of his associates. I need y'all beside me."
"What about our operation in Chicago? Plus, if the hit did
n't come from the Italians, that means there is someone with a beef. That shit needs to be handled accordingly," Sarge asked.
"We still running the Chi. There will be a lot of traveling between the cities. We have to get this fucking bread, though. I'll get in touch with my real estate agent so y'all can cop cribs down here. I know y'all need to discuss this with your better halves. Just let me know sooner than later. As far as the nigga who shot me, that shit is still a mystery. Right now the nigga thinks I'm dead. That's another reason why I stayed out here until I could find out where it came from. In the meantime, we going to get this bread and hold this family together.
"I think I can speak for all of us when I say we're in," Malik said as Sarge and Dro nodded in agreement.
"That's what the fuck I'm talking about. Now let's make a toast to getting this fucking money and laying any motherfucker down that's standing in our way!" We all stood to our feet and threw back a shot. I was glad that they agreed to join me. I need my hittas with me. Now I just needed to make shit right with Tahari. I couldn't function in the streets without my backbone.
Chapter 6- Tahari
I Missed Us
Despite being so pissed off at Thug, I enjoyed having the family around. I guess I could learn to deal with Khia's presence since Dro was a part of Thug's organization now. Don't get it twisted that bitch was not nor would we ever be friends again. I couldn't fuck with her like that anymore.
I found myself constantly looking at her son. He was the spitting image of Nico. That shit was spooky as hell. I was glad she and Dro were now in a relationship. Hopefully, she would find everything she ever wanted. In the meantime, I would be cordial for the sake of my husband. The night had winded down, and I couldn't sleep because Ka'Jaiyah was crying nonstop.
"Please Momma's baby stop crying." I rubbed her back trying to soothe her. She had been fed and changed, so I knew that wasn't why she was crying. She had cried for so long that I was about to cry. After awhile, I couldn't take it anymore. I went to Thug's room to see if he could calm her down. I walked in, and he was sitting up on the side of the bed holding his chest like he was pain.